System and method for managing data privacy

ABSTRACT

A system and method for assessing the risk associated with the protection of data privacy by software application. A decision engine is provided to assess monitor and manage key issues around the risk management of data privacy. The system creates a core repository that manages, monitors and measures the data privacy assessments of applications across an institution (e.g., a corporation). The system and method employs automated questionnaires that require responses from the user (preferably the manager responsible for the application). The responses are tracked in order to evaluate the progress of the assessment and the status of the applications with respect to compliance with the enterprise&#39;s data privacy policies and procedures as well as the regulations and laws of the jurisdictions in which the application is operated. Once a questionnaire has been completed, the application is given ratings both with respect to the data privacy impact of the application and the application&#39;s compliance with the data privacy requirements. If a risk exists, a plan for reducing the risk or bringing the application into compliance can be formulated, and progress towards compliance can be tracked. Alternatively, an identified exposure to risk can be acknowledged through the system, which requires sign off by various higher level managers and administrators.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.60/411,370, filed on Sep. 17, 2002 the entirety of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to systems and methods formanaging data privacy, and more particularly to systems and methods formanaging the risk associated with compliance with applicable lawscorporate policy with respect to the collection, use and storage of anindividual's data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Risk management relates to procedures for assessing and managing riskthat are established by the enterprise, with accompanying directives bymanagement to comply with the procedures. For example, a given managerof a department may be required to establish the level of riskassociated with the operation of a particular computer system (e.g., therisk of losing use of such a computer system for some period of time).This manager may formulate a system for evaluating and reporting therisk, that can be used by lower level and project managers. For example,on a periodic basis such as quarterly, the managers for a givendepartment might be required to communicate to upper management thevarious risk factors and risk evaluations that are related to itscomputer information systems operations. The risk factor relatedinformation can be documented through various forms or questionnairesfor evaluating risk and risk factors associated with projects for whichthey are responsible. These forms and questionnaires can be compiledinto reports and other summary data to provide a department manager witha fairly good idea of the level of compliance with various enterpriseprocedures.

Typically, if a group within the department is not in compliance withthe established procedures for the enterprise, this information can beso noted in the summary or compiled data presented to the departmentmanager. In such a case, the department manager can establish plans tobring the group into compliance, and to monitor the status of the groupin progressing with the plan.

The impact of evaluating the risk for a given enterprise can haveserious consequences with regard to the success or profitability of theenterprise. If the enterprise has established procedures that aredesigned to protect the enterprise from liability, or otherwise assurethat levels of risk within the enterprise are minimized, the enterprisecan be exposed to liability if the procedures are not properly followed.For example, in the area of data privacy, most responsible enterpriseshave policies and procedures for protecting the personal information oftheir employees and customers. Further more, each state and Federalgovernment has laws regulating the privacy of personal information.Failure to follow these policies, procedures and laws can expose theenterprise to significant liability.

In typical enterprises, the analysis, statuses and reporting to uppermanagement of the procedures with respect to data privacy are oftenhaphazard and inconsistent. For example, some managers may find therequirement of filling out forms and answering questionnaires to be aninefficient use of time, and fail to effectively complete riskassessments. Other managers may have an attitude that protecting dataprivacy is not an important priority. Furthermore, most departments failto evaluate the external dependencies that it has, and the impact on itsability to perform its functions should those external entities fail toprotect the employees and customer's data.

Where tools for the risk assessments with respect to data privacy doexist, they tend to be form intensive, and inconsistent between variousenterprise locations. It is difficult to track and maintain the datathat can be obtained from forms related to assessment of data privacyrisk, and even more difficult to take an enterprise view of such risk,which is absolutely required for effectively managing the liability ofthe enterprise. Some computer based systems have been developed toovercome the difficulties with traditional paper based risk assessmentsystems. It does not appear that any such systems have been developedwith respect to assessing and containing the risk associated with dataprivacy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a system and method for determining anenterprises' compliance with data privacy policies, procedures and lawsand assessing the risk associated with non-compliance. The system andmethod of the present invention provides the capabilities to manage andmonitor the protection of employees' and customers' private data. Itshould be noted that the requirements of data privacy is equallyapplicable to the information of employees as well as it is tocustomer's data. For example, employers in all fifty states must complywith the privacy regulations associated with the Federal law entitledthe Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Thisinvention enhances current processes to provide a decision engine aroundkey data privacy issues providing the capability for enhanced,monitoring and management around the risk management function.

A first step of the present invention is to create a core repositorythat manages, monitors and measures all data privacy assessments acrossan institution (e.g., a corporation). The invention eliminates redundantsystems and functions related to data privacy assessment within each ofthe Lines of Business (LOBs) of the institution.

The present invention utilizes a six-step data privacy management systemto develop, assess and test the risk associated with the data privacyprotection practices and procedures employed by a corporation. Thesystem identifies and tracks outstanding issues related to data privacythrough final resolution or acceptance of the risk posed by the dataprivacy issue. The system and method employs automated questionnairesthat require responses from the user (preferably the manager responsiblefor the data, i.e., the data owner). The responses are tracked in orderto evaluate the progress of the assessment and the status of the dataprivacy protection program with respect to compliance with theenterprise's policies and procedures as well as state and Federal laws.

One or more responsible parties for a given area are identified orappointed to be responsible for responding to compliance questionnaires.The parties fill in questionnaires designed to focus on various featuresof risk assessment for specific aspects of the data privacy procedures.For example, the responsible parties for an area that performs customerservices would be asked if the customer service agents have been trainedto safeguard a customer's private information. The rating for thisgroup's data privacy protection may depend upon such factors as whetherthe group has established procedures for which information the customerservice representatives can provide to it customers and procedures forwhich information the customer service representatives can collect fromcustomers.

Once a questionnaire or series of questionnaires has been completed, thecompliance of the group with the enterprises requirements for theprotection of data privacy (including compliance with applicable sateand Federal laws) is assessed and the group is given an overall ratingof exposure to risk. Areas of risk can be acknowledged, prompting asensitivity rating, such as severe, negligible and so forth. Once riskis acknowledged, a plan for reducing the risk or bringing the groupsprocedures into compliance can be formulated, and progress towardscompliance can be tracked. Alternatively, an identified exposure to riskcan be disclaimed through the system, which requires sign off by varioushigher level managers and administrators.

Once the risk assessment is completed for various departments, a higherlevel manager can review exposure to risk on a broad perspective, andthrough a user interface, expand particular areas where high risk isidentified as a problem. A risk category that is expanded reveals thedifferent departments and/or projects which are responsible for dataprivacy and their associated risks or compliance statuses. The higherlevel manager can thus identify particular projects, activity areas andgroups where risk exposure exists.

Requirements for compliance with regulatory demands, regulatoryagencies, state law and Federal laws are built into the data privacyrisk management tool. Project managers and higher level managers candetermine in a glance if a particular group's practices and proceduresare in compliance with the laws and guidelines. Higher level managershave broader access than lower level mangers to risk assessmentinformation according to level of seniority. For example, a middle levelmanager can see all the risk assessment factors for each group that theymanage, but can see no risk information beyond their allotted level. Ahigh level manager can view all the information available to the midlevel manager, in addition to any other manager or group for which thehigh level manager has responsibility. Accordingly, access to the systemis provided on a secure basis that is reflective of the user's level ofseniority.

The system also provides security features such as logon IDs andpasswords. Access levels are assigned based on seniority or managementstatus, and provide a mechanism for a secure review of risk exposure andcompliance. Once data is entered into the system it cannot be modifiedunless the user has proper authorization. The system generates reportsto inform persons or groups about their compliance status. A search toolis available for locating various business units, compliance areas, riskstatus levels and so forth. The system can also be used for trainingusers on risk management policies, how risks are evaluated and how pathsto compliance can be determined.

The system according to the present invention thus provides immediatecompliance verification, a calendar of events, allows shared bestpractices and corrective action plans and provides a mechanism for riskacknowledgement communicated to other members of a hierarchy. The systemcan be used in any hierarchical organization including such risksensitive enterprises as military units, space missions and highlyfinanced business endeavors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purposes of illustrating the present invention, there is shownin the drawings a form which is presently preferred, it being understoodhowever, that the invention is not limited to the precise form shown bythe drawing in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates the system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 depicts a high level view of the process of the invention;

FIG. 3 is the interface of system 10 for describing an application withdata privacy components;

FIG. 4 depicts a user interface for defining roles and responsibilities;

FIG. 5 illustrates the data privacy risk impact interface;

FIG. 6 illustrates jurisdiction user interface;

FIG. 7 is a user interface screen for selecting categories of processesfor data privacy review;

FIG. 8 illustrates a data privacy questionnaire interface;

FIG. 9 illustrates a State of Health Report Card status screen;

FIG. 10 depicts a legend to the icons depicted in FIGS. 9 and 11;

FIG. 11 is a detailed State of Health Report Card status screen; and

FIG. 12 illustrates a resource user interface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The system 10 of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. Asillustrated, system 10 is implemented using a distributed client/serverarchitecture. The clients 15 (one illustrated) are distributedthroughout the enterprise (corporation), while the servers 20 arecentrally located with redundancies (not illustrated). Thisinfrastructure consists of one application server 25 communicating withapplication database 35, and one database server 30 communicating withdatabase 40. In a preferred embodiment, the application server 25 isrunning BEA WebLogic 5.1 that comprises middleware between the front-endweb application and the application database 35. In this preferredembodiment, database server 30 is running Oracle 8.16 Server anddatabase 40 is an Oracle database.

In the preferred embodiment, client 15 is a web based browserapplication. This application 15 preferably uses browsers that supportJava applets and JavaScript such as Netscape 4.x or Internet Explorer4.x. Menu applet 45 is an illustration of a Java applet supported inclient 15.

FIG. 2 broadly describes the six step method of the present invention.The method enables tracking of data privacy issues across the enterpriseand the six-step map provides for consistency and standardization fordata privacy review and risk assessment throughout the organization. Thesix step method further provides for a comprehensive understanding ofthe enterprise's procedures and policies for protecting the privacy ofemployees' and customers' information. Gaps identified by the system ofthe present invention in this analysis are tracked and monitored by theinformation security team for the enterprise using the system of thepresent invention.

In step one (50) the person assigned with the responsibility to assess aparticular application that involves data with a privacy componentdescribes the application to system 10. The responsibility fordescribing the application is typically assigned to the manager incharge of the application, as this is the person in the organizationwith the most intimate knowledge about the current state of theoperation of the application at any given time. As further describedbelow, the information for each application is aggregated and rolled upfor each higher level of management with the organization. In step two(55) of the process, various roles and responsibilities within theenterprise with respect to the application are defined and assigned. Instep three (60) of the method, the impact of data privacy in regard tothe operations of the application is reviewed and assessed. In step four(65), the user identifies all of the jurisdictions (e.g., states) inwhich the application is used. In step five (70) of the method, themanager completes a series of questionnaires that aid system 10 inassessing and classifying the risk associated with the application inregard to the protection of private data. Finally, in step 6 of theprocess, system 10 provides the manager with access to a library(preferably hyperlinks) to contacts with the enterprise knowledgeableabout privacy issues, privacy policies of the enterprise, United StatesFederal legislation, state legislation and selected internationallegislation.

FIG. 3 illustrates an input screen 80 employed by the user to describean application under review. Much of the description contained herein ismade in terms of the user interface screens (e.g., input screens)illustrated in the Figures. Further description herein relates to theprocessing of the information illustrated in these screens by thehardware components of system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1. As appreciatedto those skilled in the art, the description of these screen and theaccompanying description of the processing allows one to make and usesystem 10.

Screen 80 is used to input into system 10 the descriptions theapplications employed by the enterprise. Only the applications thatstore or process data with a data privacy component are required toundergo the privacy review of system 10. Many applications employed bythe enterprise have no contact with private data, e.g., applicationsthat control the air conditioning in a particular facility. If anapplication does not have any functionality with respect to privateinformation, the user would enter “not applicable” in response to thequestions posed by system 10 as further described below. In a preferredembodiment, another software module (not illustrated in the Figures)known as an Application Portal, retrieves information regardingapplications that have already been defined in system 10. In field 85,the user identifies the application by name. In a preferred embodimentof the invention, a dropdown box is provided for field 85 so that theuser can recall the data for a previously identified application andedit the information associated with that application if necessary. Onceidentified, the Application Portal is able to retrieve all of theinformation it has regarding an application and pre-populates the fieldsin screen 80. In field 90, the user describes the application. Field 95is used to identify the location of the production server hosting theapplication, preferably by Street, City, State and Zip Code. Buttons 100assists the user in identifying the location of the servers whichsupport the application being described. Part of database 40 of system10 (FIG. 1) contains the addresses of the enterprise where servers arelocated. Buttons 100 access this database and provide a selectable listof locations. The term “production” server indicates that theapplication is actually being used by the enterprise to process or storedata used in the operation of the enterprise.

Field 105 is similarly used to identify the location of the developmentserver that is being employed to develop the application. Field 110 isused to identify the location of the quality assurance (Q/A) serveremployed in the testing of the application. As with the identificationof the production server in field 95, the development and Q/A servers infields 105 and 110 are preferably identified by Street, City, State andZip Code.

In field 115, the user identifies the current status of the applicationunder review. The user is provided with the choices of identifying theapplication was being in development (120), in user acceptance testing,UAT (125), in production (130) or that the application has been retired(135).

Returning to FIG. 2, in step two of the process of the presentinvention, the Roles and Responsibilities with respect to the operationof the application are identified and input into system 10 for storagein database 40 (FIG. 1). The identification of the roles andresponsibilities with the corporation with respect to the operation ofan application is a very important exercise. Without clearly definedroles and responsibilities and specific employees of the corporationassigned these roles and responsibilities, the data privacy risksassociated with the operation of the application can go undetected.

FIG. 4 illustrates an input screen 150 for assigning personnel to therespective roles. This Figure illustrates two different roles that arepreferably fulfilled with respect to the protection of privacy of databy applications of the enterprise: Data Privacy Owner 155; Data PrivacyRisk Manager 185. Although two roles are illustrated in FIG. 4 aspreferred, additional roles and responsibilities can be defined andassigned using the system of the present invention.

For each of the roles 155, 185, input screen 150 indicates who performedthe assignment of the role 165, when the role was assigned 170, to whomthe assignment was made 175 and the date on which the assignment wasaccepted 180. When an assignment is made, system 10 preferably sends theassignee an email notifying the person of the assignment and theresponsibilities associated therewith (see below). The assigneepreferably accepts the assignment by replying affirmatively to the emailand system 10 updates the applicable database to record the assignment.When a manager is making assignments in input screen 150, some of theroles will have already been pre-populated as certain of the assignmentsrelate to firm-wide responsibilities.

The following section describes the responsibilities of key ones of theroles in the present invention.

The Data Privacy Owner 155 is a manager in an area which generates orprocesses system information (e.g., application programs and relatedfiles), or produces products and services which depend upon systeminformation. Each application of the enterprise must have an DataPrivacy Owner 155 accountable for its protection. Applications that arecross-functional in nature, in that they serve the needs of multiplebusiness units, preferably have a central Data Privacy Owner 155 thatserves as a focal point. Data Privacy Owners 155 are assigned for everybusiness unit using these applications.

In each case, the Data Privacy Owner's 155 responsibilities are the mostextensive and involve ensuring compliance with the policies andprocedures of the enterprise relative to the applications under hersupervision. The Data Privacy Owner 155 is tasked with ensuringcompliance with specific policies and procedures of the enterprise,including: developing, testing and maintaining the application incompliance with all data privacy regulations existing in thejurisdiction where the enterprise conducts business; ensuring thatOutside Service Providers (OSPs) involved with the application develop,test and maintain the application in compliance with all data privacyregulations existing in the jurisdiction where the enterprise conductsbusiness; ensuring that all data elements within the application andrelated files are classified according the data privacy impact rating;ensure that Risk Acknowledgments (see below) are in place for each areaof non-compliance with data privacy policies; coordinate with localinformation owners to ensued that all of the responsibilities areproperly fulfilled; ensure that the application is in compliance withInformation Technology control policies; training employees, as needed,to comply with all data privacy regulations existing in the jurisdictionwhere the enterprise conducts business; inform all users of applicationsof the policies and procedures with respect to the application; identifyan alternative Data Privacy Owner; and develop a Corrective Action Plan(see below) for any area of the application that is non-compliant.

The Data Privacy Risk Manager 185 generally reports to senior managementwithin the enterprise and is responsible for ensuring that theenterprise complies with the enterprise's established data privacycontrol policies. The responsibilities of the Data Privacy Risk Manager185 includes the following: coordinating the business unit's compliancewith the enterprise's data privacy policies and procedures, as well ascompliance with local, state and Federal regulations and laws related todata privacy; ensuring implementation of a data privacy awarenessprogram for the business to address data privacy risks and to developand offer Data Privacy Owner 155 and user training; administering theRisk Acknowledgement process and insuring they are performed by DataPrivacy Owners 155 in compliance with the procedures of the enterprise;review and monitor technology audits and audit responses to validate theeffectiveness of the response and the timeliness of any correctiveactions; monitor on-going compliance with enterprise's data privacypolicies and procedures, as well as compliance with local, state andFederal regulations and laws related to data privacy; ensure that aprocess is in place to assess technology platforms and associatedapplications for data privacy protection and compliance; ensure that aprocess is developed for the timely notification of terminated ortransferred Data Privacy Owners 155 and insuring an alternate resource;insure the development and implementation of Corrective Action planswith respect to any area not in compliance with data privacy protectionpolicies and procedures; and insure business units ensure compliance oftheir OSPs with respect to data privacy policies and procedures.

Screen 150 also allows the user to assign alternates to the one or moreof the roles defined as the Primary Role. In the example depicted inFIG. 4, four alternatives were assigned to fulfill primary role of DataPrivacy Risk Manager 190-205. Alternative people have been identify tofulfill this role as it is one of the most important relative to theprotection of data privacy.

Returning for the moment to FIG. 2, in step 3 (60) of the process, theuser assists in a determination of the impact of the application beingreviewed with respect to data privacy. As previously described, thisimpact assessment is accomplished automatically by system 10 in responseto the answers given by the user to a series of questions 255, 295-335relative to the application. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of one of theautomated questionnaires. Screen 250 asks the user a series of questions255, 295-335 about several types of data that have privacy implications.For example, question 255 asks the user as to whether the applicationunder review has contact with data containing anyone's Social Securitynumber.

With respect to each of the questions 255, 295-335, system 10 providesthe user with the ability to describe if and how the application hascontact with the type of data and the nature of the contact.Specifically, system 10 asks the user if the application processes thedata in question (260), whether it transmits the data 265, whether itcollects the data itself 270 and whether it stores the data 275. System10 further asks the user as to whether the data in question is data froma customer 280 or data from an employee of the enterprise 285.Typically, an application would process only customer 280 or employee285 data, but certain applications (e.g., storage or transportapplications) could have contact with both customer 280 and employee 285data. System 10 additionally allows the user to answer Not Applicable(N/A) 290 with respect to any type of data, indicating that theapplication does not touch that type of data. The user is able to answeraffirmatively to any of the questions 255, 295-335 by checking theselection box in the column 260-290 of the answer that applies. As seenin FIG. 5, some applications will perform several of the functionsprocess 260, transmit 265, collect 270 and store 275 (e.g., see question300).

As can be seen in FIG. 5, each of the types of data that the user isqueried about is personal in nature. The examples of the types of datalisted in FIG. 5 are: Social Security Number 255; Health related data(e.g., medical records, dental records) (295); Compensation data (e.g.,stock options, bonus, incentives, payroll information) (300);Contributions/Donations (e.g., United Way, Blood Drives, College Funds)(305); Performance information (e.g., performance reviews, performanceratings) (310); Tuition Reimbursement (e.g., grades, courses taken)(315); License/Certification information (e.g., financial licenses,insurance certifications) (320); Work experience information (e.g.,background checks, references, resumes) (325); Association/Committeeaffiliate information (e.g., membership in employee networking groups,memberships in external groups) (330); and Bio-metric information (e.g.,fingerprints, hand scans, face scans, retinal scans, DNA) (335).

As seen in FIG. 5, there are links 350 to connect the user to otherquestionnaire input screens (not shown). In the embodiment illustratedin FIG. 5, thee are a total of three data privacy impact user interfacescreens. The other types of privacy data that these screens can querythe user about include: Retirement information (e.g., 401K, pension,Social Security); Timekeeping information (e.g., vacation, sick days,personal days); Personal information (e.g., Employee Assistance Programparticipation); Birth Date (e.g., month, day, year, age); DriversLicense information (e.g., license number, state); Email address (e.g.,Uniform Resource Identifier, Internet Protocol); Credit information(e.g., history, credit rating, score); External Account/Financialinformation obtained from other organizations (e.g., account numbersused by customer or system, transactions, financials, linkages, status,privileges); Account Authorization Profile information (e.g., PersonalIdentification Number (PIN), challenge question, maiden name, mother'smaiden name, recent transactions); Marketing Profile information (e.g.,customer specific details/behaviors, customer lists, privacy preferenceinformation); Address information (e.g., postal, telephone, fax);Aggregate Marketing information (e.g., total transaction volume for aproduct or service, increase in sales, target market); Demographicinformation (e.g., gender, ethnicity, marital status, dependents,citizenship, resident status, education, profession, income range); andResidence information (e.g., own/rent, time in residence, multiple homeownership).

After the user has answered the questions on the data privacy impactassessment input screens (e.g., screen 250) she uses the Submit button340 in order to have the data saved by system 10 in database 40 (FIG.1). If the answers to the questions are incorrect (e.g., out of date dueto changes in the application) the user can activate the Reset button345 to clear the answers in columns 260-290. After submission and savingof the user's responses to the impact questions, system 10 automaticallycalculates the criticality of the data privacy impact rating of theapplication under review.

System 10 computes criticality rating for the application based on theresponses provided by the user with respect to the questions describedabove. The analysis process of system 10 results in a privacy impactrating for the application of LOW to HIGH. The specific algorithm usedto analyze and determine the overall data privacy impact rating of theapplication (in light of the manager's responses) is subject manyfactors including, among others, the types of data involved (e.g.,Social Security number versus address) and the types of functionalityperformed by the application (e.g., storage, processing . . . ). Therespective ratings of particular types of data are based uponindustry/governmental guidelines. For example, Social Security numbersare ranked as High and demographic information is ranked as medium.These rankings are embedded in system 10. In a preferred embodiment, theapplication is assigned the criticality of the highest criticality ofthe data that is touched by the application.

Once system 10 has calculated the data privacy impact rating for theapplication, the rating is stored in database 40 (FIG. 1) and displayedto the user on screen 250. As seen on screen 250, system 10 actuallycalculates two separate data privacy impact ratings for each applicationunder review, a customer data privacy impact rating 355 and an employeedata impact rating 360.

The above described procedure for determining the data privacy impactrating for an application can, and is preferably performed for each ofthe applications identified in system 10. Although the data privacyimpact rating for a particular application may be High, this does notmean that there is a problem with the application. It simply means thatsensitivity that the enterprise should take with respect to theprotection of the privacy data employed by this application isincreased. As shown below, if the data privacy impact rating is High,the scrutiny given to the procedures of the enterprise for protectingthe data is heightened. Furthermore, the acceptance of the riskassociated with the data privacy aspects of the application is morecarefully reviewed, in the preferred embodiment by higher levels ofmanagement.

Returning to FIG. 2, in step four (element 65) the user is required toidentify the applicable jurisdictions in which the application operates.User interface screen 400 as illustrated in FIG. 6 allows the user toidentify the applicable jurisdictions to system 10. The applicablejurisdictions are input into area 405. To assist this input, screen 400provides an Add button 410. Activation of this Add button 410 causessystem 10 to display jurisdiction screen 420. Each jurisdiction in whichthe enterprise conducts business is displayed in area 425. The user isable to select each of the jurisdictions that are applicable to theapplication under review using the selection boxes next to the namedjurisdictions in area 425. If the user does not want to make anyselections from area 425, she may activate the Close button 435. Oncethe user has completed her selection(s) in area 425 she activates theSubmit button 430 to populate the selections into the input area 405 inscreen 400.

If the user erroneously inputs a jurisdiction into area 405, she canhighlight the erroneous jurisdiction and then activate the Delete button415 to delete the entry from area 405. Once all of the applicablejurisdictions have been input into area 405, the Submit button 440 isactivated to cause system 10 store the jurisdictions in database 40(FIG. 1) in association with the application under review. Database 40also preferably contains the laws and regulations of each jurisdictionas they apply to data privacy. This database can be consulted whensystem 10 determines the compliance of the application with the laws andregulations of the jurisdictions in which the application operates asfurther described below.

Returning to FIG. 2, step five (70) of the process requires the user toclassify the risk associated with the application with respect to dataprivacy. As depicted in FIG. 7, screen area 500 allows the user toselect a category of the enterprise's privacy policy for assessing theapplication under review. The preferred categories include: CustomerServices Processes 505; Data Destruction and Disposal Procedures 510;Data Extraction and Modification 515; Development and QA/UAT EnvironmentProcesses 520; Encryption Practices 525; OSP practices 530; RelatedApplications and Processes 535; and Website Practices; 540. Depending onthe nature of the application under review, the user may select one ormore of categories 505-540.

FIG. 8 illustrates the user interface 550 displayed by system 10 if theuser selects Customer Servicing Processes, category 505 in FIG. 7.Screen area 575 depicts the questions posed to the user with respect tothe Customer Servicing Processes aspects of the application as itrelates to data privacy. As seen in this user interface screen 550, theuser is asked to review the training and procedures of the customerservice representatives. For example, the user is asked whether theemployee providing customer services using the application has beentrained with respect to the safeguarding of private information. Furtherquestions asked in input interface 500 include: “Are customer serviceagents trained not to enter sensitive information into comment fieldsthat may not require authorization?”; “Are there procedures that definewhat a customer service agent may deliver from this application tocustomers and/or employees via the e-mail contact channel?”; “Are thereprocedures that define what a customer service agent may deliver fromthis application to customers and/or employees via the fax contactchannel?”; and “Are there procedures that define what a customer serviceagent may deliver from this application to customers and/or employeesvia the telephone contact channel?”.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, questions 575 have areas for the user toprovide responses in the form of Yes (555), No (560), N/A (565) answers.Additionally, screen 550 provides a Comments section 570. In the Commentsection 570 the user can enter or attach a description of the controlprocess(es) or any information, that supports or clarifies the user'sresponses. The user is advised to indicate what evidence exists tosupport the responses or cross-reference to the supportingdocumentation.

When a user provides a negative answer to any of the questions in any ofthe assessments in system 10, system 10 automatically asks the managerif she would like to develop a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) if the gapwill be remediated within ninety days. As implied by its name, aCorrective Action Plan is a plan to correct the condition that hascaused the manager to answer a question negatively. If the manageranswers yes to developing a CAP, system 10 brings the manager to a CAPinput screen in which the manager describes the condition which causedthe negative response, the reason for the condition (e.g., funding) theplan to correct the condition, the person responsible for seeing thatthe correction is done, a target date by which the correction will becompleted, and any attachments which are required to more fully explainthe CAP. The CAP that is developed is stored in the database andappropriately linked to the records for this department. Commentssection 570 indicates if a CAP is in place to correct the issue thatcaused the particular question to be answered negatively.

If the manager says “No” when asked if she wants to develop a CAP, themanager is automatically brought to a Risk Acknowledgement screen. Inthis screen, the manager is required to describe the reasons for therequirement of the Risk Acknowledgement; what compensating controls arein place, if any; the likelihood of an impact due to the risk involved(high, medium or low); a description of the potential impact; a ratingof the potential impact (catastrophic, severe, moderate, negligible);and an implementation plan. The Risk Acknowledgement by the manager isreviewed and approved by the appropriate LOB management. If the RiskAcknowledgement is not approved by management, a CAP must be developedin order to correct the risk condition. Comments section 570 indicatesif a Risk Acknowledgement (RA) is in place to acknowledge the riskassociated with the issue that caused the particular question to beanswered negatively.

Tables 1 through 7 illustrate preferred categories of questions and thepreferred questions that are posed to the user in order to classify therisk associated with the data privacy aspects of the application underreview. TABLE 1 Data Destruction & Disposal Procedures: DD 1 Areremovable storage media used by this application to store or transferpersonal financial and/or employees' information properly scratched,reformatted and/or destroyed to ensure our customers' and/or employees'privacy is protected? DD 2 Are there procedures in place to track whenremovable storage media are scratched, reformatted, and/or destroyed? Ifso, please attach the retention procedure documentation and denote thedata disposal retention period.

TABLE 2 Data Extraction & Modification Processes: DEM 1 Is personalfinancial and/or employee information in the application'sdatabase/files safeguarded against unauthorized extraction or queries?If so, please define how this is done. DEM 2 Are unauthorizedindividuals prevented from exporting personal financial and/or employeeinformation into a portable format —removable media, paper, spreadsheet,document, or text file? If so, please define how this is done. DEM 3 Arethere procedures in place to prevent unauthorized individuals frommodifying customers' personal financial and/or employees' information inthe production environment? If so, please attach the proceduredocumentation. DEM 4 Are there procedures to monitor and track personalfinancial information transferred from this application's database/filesinto portable formats such as — removable media, paper, spreadsheet,document, or text file? If so, please attach the proceduredocumentation.

TABLE 3 Development & QA/UAT Environments: DT 1 Are security andprocedures used in the development environment capable of protecting ourcustomers' personal financial and/or employees' information? If so,please attach the procedure documentation. If not, is personal financialinformation removed from databases/files accessed via the developmentenvironment to ensure our customers' privacy is protected? DT 2 Aresecurity and procedures used in the QA/UAT environment capable ofprotecting our customers' personal financial and/or employees'information? If so, please attach the procedure documentation. If not,is personal financial and/or employee information removed fromdatabases/files accessed via the QA/UAT environment to ensure ourcustomers' and/or employees' privacy is protected?

TABLE 4 Encryption Practices: EP1 Does this application encrypt data instorage? EP2 Does this application encrypt data that is transmitted? EP3Please indicate which encryption product(s) is used by this application(list of applications to select from)

TABLE 5 Outside Service Provider Practices: OSP 1 Does the contract withthe OSP include country/federal/state specific privacy andconfidentiality clauses to ensure appropriate collection, use, anddisclosure of customers' personal financial and/or employees'information to third parties? If so, please attach a copy of thecontract. OSP 2 Are security and procedures used in the OSP'sdevelopment environment capable of protecting our customers' personalfinancial information and/or employees' information? If so, pleaseattach the OSP's procedure documentation. If not, is personal financialand/or employee information removed from databases/files accessed viathe OSP's development environment to ensure our customers' and/oremployees' privacy is protected? OSP 3 Are security and procedures usedin the OSP's QA/UAT environment capable of protecting our customers'personal financial information and/or employees' information? If so,please attach the OSP's procedure documentation. If not, is personalfinancial and/or employee information removed from databases/filesaccessed via the OSP's QA/UAT environment to ensure our customers'and/or employees' privacy is protected? OSP 4 If personal financialand/or employee information from this application is used in productionat an OSP's location, does the OSP have procedures in place to track andcontrol personal financial and/or employee information transferred intoportable formats such as - removable media, paper, spreadsheet,document, or text file? If so, please attach the OSP's proceduredocumentation. OSP 5 If personal financial and/or employee informationfrom this application resides at an OSP's premises, do you have specificprocedures defined to recall, retain, or destroy all personal financialand/or employee information from the OSP if & when you terminate therelationship or eliminate the application? OSP 6 Does the OSP usesoftware tools such as web/e-mail bugs or cookies to monitor userbehavior when delivering a enterprise product or service? If so, doesthe OSP's policy comply with the enterprise's Online ConsumerInformation Practices? OSP 7 Does this OSP send or receive ourcustomers' personal financial and/or employees' information? If so,please attach the file/feed names, record layout/field details,frequency of transmission/delivery, and method oftransmission/delivery/encryption.

TABLE 6 Related Applications & Processes: OAP 1 Please select allapplications that have access to personal financial and/or employeeinformation in this application's database/files. (Note: the preferredembodiment, the user interface associated with this question has a listof applications to select from.) OAP 2 If other applications usepersonal financial and/or employee information from this application,are security and procedures used in the development environment capableof protecting our customers' personal financial and/or employees'information? If not, is personal financial and/or employee informationremoved from databases/files accessed via the development environment toensure our customers' and/or employees' privacy is protected? OAP 3 Ifother applications use personal financial and/or employee informationfrom this application, are security and procedures used in the QA/UATenvironment capable of protecting our customers' personal financialand/or employees' information? If not, is personal financial and/oremployee information removed from databases/files accessed via theQA/UAT environment to ensure our customers' and/or employees' privacy isprotected?

TABLE 7 Website Practices: WEB 1 Is a privacy policy link included onevery page of the website? WEB 2 If the personal financial and/oremployee information sharing practices for this product differ from whatis stated in the enterprise's standard Internet privacy policy, adistinct privacy policy is needed. Have the components of the standardInternet privacy policy been compared to that of this product to ensurethat an accurate privacy policy is in place? WEB 3 Has the accountopening process been tested to ensure the privacy policy is presented toand acknowledged by the customer prior to an account being established?WEB 4 If the website collects opt out selections from the customer, isthis information fed into the Customer Information File (CIF)?

As illustrated in Tables. 1-7, the system and process of the presentinvention provides a systematic, standardized and comprehensive reviewof the data privacy issues associated with the applications employed byan enterprise. For areas that require attention or do not meet policycompliance, a corrective action, risk acknowledgment or risk acceptanceprocess will automatically be invoked. Such processes identify thecondition, remediation plan, identification of accountable personnel andtargeted deadlines for implementation.

A determination is made on whether the application is in compliance withthe privacy guidelines, either by meeting all the requirements of theapplicable policies or categories in the various risk assessments, or byhaving an approved process or plan in place to achieve compliance. Ifthe application is compliant, then the indicators displayed in FIG. 9(see below) branches to compliant indicator. A compliant indicatorprovides a visual indication that is displayed to the user to show thatthe particular application is in compliance with the privacy guidelinesestablished by various reliable resources (such as local, state andfederal agencies).

One of the significant features of the present invention is the abilityof system 10 to rollup all of the collected information into clear andeasily comprehensive status report. FIG. 9 illustrates one such report,in the form of a computer screen, known as a State of Health Report Card600. This report 600 provides enhanced capabilities to track and monitorkey issues and their ongoing progress to close substantial gaps. Report600 provides the highest level of status of the reviews of the dataprivacy aspects of the applications as described above, includingcorrective actions plans, risk acknowledgments and board issues asfurther described below. This status screen 600 provides a corerepository to manage, monitor and measure the risk associated with dataprivacy of the applications utilized by the enterprise.

As seen in FIG. 9, this status screen 600 contains the status of thedata privacy issues 605, corrective actions plans 610, riskacknowledgments 615, and board issues 620. A record 630 is capable ofbeing displayed for each line of business 625 within the organization(only four illustrated in FIG. 9). For each record 630, the name of theSenior Business Executive 635 and the name of the Line of Business 625is displayed. The actual name of the Line of Business 625 is a hyperlinkthat brings up a status screen comparable to screen 600, except that itshows the status of the elements for the next level down in thecorporate hierarchy (e.g., the department level). Using this feature, auser is able to drill down (or roll up) to the level of status desiredby the particular user.

The status of the issues associated with the data privacy review of theapplications used by a Line of Business is depicted as a colored icon,e.g., icon 640. Each icon represents a different status. In addition toeach icon being a different color, it is also a different shape. Thisallows user having devices without color capability to quickly determinethe status of a particular item. FIG. 10 illustrates a legend containingthe different icons and their associated statuses. In the particularstatuses depicted in FIG. 9, status 640 indicates that there is one ormore application in use by the line of business that is not incompliance with one or more of the procedures or policies of theenterprise or laws or regulations of the jurisdictions in which theapplications operate.

It should be apparent that while the user is presented with a visualindication of risk status as a result of the process shown in FIG. 2,the status need not be a visual indication as illustrated in FIG. 10,but rather can be any kind of indicia that informs the user about thelevel of risk for a given application. For example, risk indications canbe in the form of audible warnings or in a printed format. While thepreferred embodiments of the present invention provides statusindicators of different color, namely, green for compliant, amber forwarning, red for critical, blue for incomplete and gray for pendingapproval, the present invention should not be considered to be solimited in general. For example, an indication of risk status based onindicators of varying shape can be used to inform users of risk statuson electronic devices that do not have color displays. Alternately, acolor and shape indication can be used in combination to permit thepresent system to be used in a number of platforms in a flexible manner.Numerous other forms of indicators should be apparent to those skilledin the art, which are not mentioned here for the sake of brevity, butshould nevertheless be considered to be within the scope of the presentinvention.

As indicated by icon 645, there is a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) inplace to address the non compliance indicated by icon 640. As previouslydescribed, this CAP is documented on system 10. By clicking on thestatus icon 645 in the Corrective Action Plan column 610, the user canimmediately bring up the CAP developed by the manager. If the managerdid not develop a CAP, but rather performed a Risk Acknowledgement, thisis indicated in column 650. Similarly, by clicking on the icon 650 inRisk Acknowledgement column 615, the user is be able to see the specificRisk Acknowledgement developed by the manager.

If the user clicks on one of the status icons in the Data Privacy column605, system 10 drills down the data to the next level of status asillustrated in FIG. 11. State of Health status screen 700 gives themanager a more detailed look at the status of the reviews of anyparticular application employed by the particular line of business.Column 705 contains the name of the particular application. As seen inFIG. 11, six different applications 765 have been identified as employedby the selected LOB. Column 710 provides name of the Information Owneras previously described with respect to FIG. 4. Columns 715 and 720respectively provide the data privacy impact rating of the applicationwith respect to customers and employees as previously described withrespect to FIG. 5. Column 725 contains the icons, as described above,that indicate the status of the particular application with respect todata privacy (e.g., compliant, non-compliant).

As with the Line of business as a whole described above with respect toStatus Screen 600 (FIG. 9), column 725 provides the status of theapplication with respect to any CAPs that have been formulated toaddress the issue that cause non-compliance. As further described above,clicking of the icons in column 730 allows the user to actually reviewthe documentation associated with the CAP for that application.Similarly, screen 700 provides a Risk Acknowledgement status column 735and Control Issue status column 740 providing the status of these itemsthat are required by negative assessments of any of the reviews asdiscussed above.

Returning to FIG. 2, step six (element 75) of the process is provide theuser with access to the collection, library, of data privacy materialsthat has been collected by the enterprise. FIG. 12 illustrates a userinterface screen 800 for providing the user with this access. Each ofthe items on this screen is a hyperlink the privacy materials describedin the item's title. Broadly the types of materials include a list ofthe contacts within the enterprise that are able to assist the user withquestions about data privacy, privacy papers generated by theenterprise, the enterprise's policies and procedures with respect todata privacy, U.S. Federal Legislation, U.S. State Legislation,International Legislation, other privacy materials and a privacyglossary

Although the present invention has been described in relation toparticular embodiments thereof, many other variations and other useswill be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred,therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specificdisclosure herein, but only by the gist and scope of the disclosure.

1-31. (canceled)
 32. A computer implemented method for managingprotection of data privacy, the method comprising the steps of:maintaining a repository for managing data privacy assessments for anentity; presenting one or more automated questionnaires to one or moreusers within the entity, wherein the automated questionnaires aredirected to one or more policies; tracking responses associated witheach automated questionnaire in the repository; evaluating compliancewith the one or more policies based on the responses; assigning a ratingof exposure to risk associated with the compliance; and determining anaction based on the rating of exposure.
 33. The method of claim 32,wherein the one or more policies comprise one or more privacyregulations.
 34. The method of claim 33, wherein the one or more privacyregulations comprise one or more Federal regulations.
 35. The method ofclaim 34, wherein the Federal regulations comprise Health InsurancePortability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
 36. The method of claim 32,wherein the one or more policies are specific to a jurisdictionassociated with the entity.
 37. The method of claim 32, wherein therating represents a degree of compliance with the one or more policies.38. The method of claim 32, wherein the one or more users are associatedwith one or more groups within the entity and wherein the one or morequestionnaires are specific to each group.
 39. The method of claim 32,wherein the step of determining an action comprises formulating a planfor reducing the risk.
 40. The method of claim 32, wherein the step ofdetermining an action comprises formulating a plan for compliance. 41.The method of claim 32, wherein the step of determining an actioncomprises disclaiming the risk.
 42. The method of claim 32, furthercomprising the step of: forwarding the rating of exposure to one or moredesignated users for evaluating the exposure of risk relative to othergroups within the entity.
 43. The method of claim 32, further comprisingthe step of: generating one or more reports that provide compliancestatus.
 44. The method of claim 32, further comprising the step of:searching the repository for identifying one or more of risk andcompliance information.
 45. A computer implemented system for managingprotection of data privacy, the system comprising: a repository formanaging data privacy assessments for an entity; and a decision enginefor presenting one or more automated questionnaires to one or more userswithin the entity, wherein the automated questionnaires are directed toone or more policies; tracking responses associated with each automatedquestionnaire; evaluating compliance with the one or more policies basedon the responses; assigning a rating of exposure to risk associated withthe compliance; and determining an action based on the rating ofexposure.
 46. The system of claim 45, wherein the one or more policiescomprise one or more privacy regulations based on Federal regulations.47. The system of claim 46, wherein the Federal regulations compriseHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
 48. Thesystem of claim 45, wherein the rating represents a degree of compliancewith the one or more policies.
 49. The system of claim 45, wherein theone or more users are associated with one or more groups within theentity and wherein the one or more questionnaires are specific to eachgroup.
 50. The system of claim 45, wherein determining an actioncomprises one or more of formulating a plan for reducing the risk;formulating a plan for compliance and disclaiming the risk.
 51. A methodfor an enterprise to manage privacy of information, the methodcomprising: identifying application information that describes at leastone software application used by the enterprise; storing the applicationinformation in a database; identifying types of information that arecontained in or used by the application; storing the types ofinformation in the database; determining jurisdiction information thatdescribes the jurisdictions in which the application operates; storingthe jurisdiction information in the database; identifying the proceduresused to protect the privacy of the types of information; storingprocedural information related to the procedures in the database;automatically determining a compliance rating associated with theapplication; storing the compliance rating in the database; providingstatus data from the database, wherein the status data comprises atleast the compliance rating.
 52. The method of claim 51, wherein thestep of automatically determining the compliance rating associated withthe application is in response to one or more regulations.